The Joker And The Thief
by Ignatuis The Canuck
Summary: Just another SAO OC story, no canon at all. It's more of a pleasure story as I watch the anime, read if you like. Posted it mostly for feedback from readers.
1. Chapter 1

"Son of bitch." Lance growled at the now empty air. Only seconds ago it had held a large, red, robed figure that had calmly explained to him how he was now trapped inside nothing more than a virtual death match. He had even given everyone a special item, as if that might lighten their mood.

"A mirror-?"

"What does it-?"

"-Special item!

People exclaimed mostly surprise and happiness on getting a new and "special" item. Lance chuckled at them; it wasn't so special if everyone in the game got it. A notification told him that he had received it to, and a projected gift icon appeared in front of his face. He waved it away with a growl, telling no open in particular, "I don't want any 'gift' from this stupid game!"

Blue polygons exploded all around him, it must have been the item. Lance only saw it out of the corner of his eye though; he was too focused on the mid air that the figure had disappeared into. He had only begun to comprehend the pressing matter at hand, for Lance never did anything hastily.

"If I can't log out of the game, then the game is now all I've got..." Lance muttered. The clouds shifted in front of a shining, digital sun. Lance raised his avatar's hand in front of the light, carefully inspecting the intricate detail in it. "Everything looks so real, but it's virtual. Digital. Ones and zeros in some big computer overseas. "

"GET ME OUTTA HERE!" Someone yelled suddenly, scrambling to get out of the crowded town square into which 10,000 people had been teleported. Similar cries leapt up from the mass of people, sparked by the single flash of anger. Most everyone around him suddenly began to panic and rush out of the coliseum-like structure, as if it would get them somewhere. Lance continued, oblivious to the chaos that pushed him left and right. He swayed with the tide, but his feet remained firm.

"No matter what it is, this is my life now. Usually to get good in a MMORPG you need to sacrifice time from your real life, and to enjoy real life you can't play MMORPG's. But now..." Whit a grin, Lance gripped the hand the blocked out the sun. "Now I've got twenty-four hours in a day to train and advance my character!"

"I guess the players have one factor on their side in this death match. " Another voice broke into his speech. Lance whirled; confused as to why he had heard only that voice, but he soon realized the entire square had been nearly evacuated with the rushing masses. There were only two players left, and the conversation no consisted of both of them. The other leaned against the large clock tower in the middle of the town. He had shaggy blonde hair and the most mischievous eyes Lance had ever seen. The way he stared was like Lance could read his thoughts, and to Lance he was definitely thinking of how he would look with a pie splattered over his face. The twinkling blue eyes were soon accompanied by a similar smile, and he raised a finger to point at Lance.

"You've got a system message." Lance followed his finger to the gift icon, now blinking red rapidly. A browser appeared in front of Lance, telling him that if he didn't open the item it would be opened by the system and applied unwillingly.

"What is it anyway?" Lance grumbled, navigating the menu as slow as humanly possible and opening the gift.

"I'll let you find that out." The figure smiled, watching intently as a small hand mirror appeared in Lance's hand. He raised it to shoulder level and examined himself in it experimentally. Strangely enough, he appeared as he was in real life, under the influences of the Nerve Gear. With an explosion of blue shards, Lance transformed into what the mirror showed him. Ice-blue eyes, short brown hair, and tan skin all transferred from the object onto his avatar, which made the system gift explode in the default way of blue crystals.

"You know what, your original avatar looked better." The other boy joked, his extended finger still pointing.

"Yeah, thanks." Lance rolled his eyes and snorted. He felt the air as it flowed from his nostrils, he heard the quiet sound it made, but he knew it was all fake. It was just the game telling his brain to interpret the signals as real things. Thinking of the concept brought to mind a question.

"So we have all of our senses in SAO?"

"Yup." The boy pursed his lips and nodded, as if accepting the fact with contempt. "SAO transmits scent, hearing, taste, scent and sight signals into your brain, making your brain think it's the real thing. It does the same thing as it hijacks your brain's signals into your body, transferring it to the game so you move in here instead."

"That's crazy." Lance muttered. "I knew it was a virtual world, but I didn't think it would be like this."

"Yeah! It's great, isn't it?" He smiled broadly, then jabbed a thumb at his face. "Name's Beckett! I played Guild Wars 2 and World of Warcraft before this, so I know MMO's like the back of my hand! What about you?"

"I'm Lance..." The person bearing the name said slowly. "I never played any games before this, except Dungeons & Dragons. I get the whole fantasy thing, but I don't know anything about video games..." Lance explained sheepishly, running his fingers through the hair that decorated the back of his head subconsciously.

"That's a bummer, previous MMO's you've played will pretty much be a resume now." Seeing Lance's expression darken, Beckett smacked his shoulder with a chuckle. "Don't worry, I can help you out!" Beckett grinned. Another browser appeared in front of Lance, a friend request form the player Beckett, with a green checkmark and a red X beside it. Becket extended his hand below the request and shot Lance a smirk. "Your life depends on your in-game skill. I can help you get there, but I've got a problem."

With his other hand, Becket opened his own profile and showed Lance, pointing to the health bar. "I started the game with about a quarter of the health that a player usually has. So whattya say, team up with me and I'll show you how to survive, and you make sure I don't accidentally bump my head and die, at least until I work out the game's bug!"

Lance firmly gripped Beckett's hand. "You got yourself a deal, partner." The request was quickly accepted, and was quickly followed by a party request.

"Where do we start?" Lance inquired. With a grin, Beckett turned and bolted out of the square. "Wait, Beckett?" Lance hurried after him, but Beckett had a considerable and increasing lead. "Beckett! Wait up! How is your running skill already so high? BECKETT!"

000

"I'm boooooored." Becket fell back on the grass of the hills surrounding the Town of Beginnings. "I brought you out here to fight, why can't we fight yet?"

"Stop being hasty, we're studying our opponents." Lance al y more composed, with crossed legs and his hands on his knees. Around them, reddish-brown boars mingled in the grass.

"Why can't we just fight them!?" Beckett raised his arms up before letting them fall back down.

"Sun Tzu said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you won't be defeated ever. If our lives are dependent upon it, why would you rush into a battle?" Lance answered, his eyes unwavering from the boars.

"Because boars have meat, and steak is meat, and steak is food, and with barbecue sauce it's good food, and I'm hungry." Beckett commented.

"We have to focus on their reactions." Lance continued, ignoring Beckett's comment. A bush rustled and a boar's head snapped at it before slowly returning to a comfortable state. "This isn't just hack and slash, turn based combat; this is real. If you are smart enough you can kill without it landing a single hit on you. Our advantage is that these boars aren't being controlled, they have programming. They lack creativity of any sort; they just act how they were set to act. If you can study their attack patterns, reaction times, defense programming, speed, strength, and their entire attack set, you'll never lose." Lance grinned as he unearthed his entire plan.

"You realize those things have like two health, right?" Beckett said bluntly. "Pretty much anyone can one-hit them."

"If you insist, I guess we can fight now." Lance slowly rose from the ground.

"Alright!" Beckett sprung up immediately and raised his arms. "Let's kick some boar tail!"

"Speaking of kick, is that what you're gonna do?" Lance ran his eyes over him. "I don't see a weapon on you."

Beckett's expression immediately dulled and he looked to the ground, pressing his fingers together and running them over each other out of habit. "Shut up..." Red tinged his cheeks, but not from anger. "The game didn't give me anything as a starter, okay?"

"Alright, alright." Lance reached to his belt, where the default short sword hung. "Just show me how to fight." Beckett turned back to him, completely throwing away his old mood and brightening at the subject of combat.

"Alright, so initially combat is just when your weapon strike an opponent. Lie real life, the harder you swing, the more damage it will do. You can slash at boars all day, but that won't get you anywhere. What will really separate you from others is how you use skills." At the last word, Beckett grinned.

"Here's one, hold your sword behind your back, underneath your opposite arm." Lance did as Beckett instructed, lifting his left elbow so it wouldn't get sliced. Beckett continued, but Lance noted that he stepped backwards as he spoke. "Grip your sword tightly. Reach inside of you, and do your best to activate the skill." Lance did as he instructed, but felt no more powerful than before. "Hesitate for a moment, and then let it all go." Beckett said finally.

Lance closed his eyes, took a breath, and waited for the instructed moment and his weapon shot out so fast it nearly flew out of his reach. It was glowing bright green and left a thick beam behind it, like a moving tail light. Only the round pommel kept the short sword from sliding out of his grip, it continued to whirl around him, craven by a powerful, unseen force. It even emitted a noise that sounded like a rapid vibration. When he had completed a full revolution and a little more, the skill faded. He stopped his revolution, and his sword returned to its normal color.

"What was that?" Lance whirled on Becket with an excited smile on his face.

"Piercing Slash, it's a starter skill." Beckett grinned at Lance's childlike giddiness. "It does 1.5x damage and has a minor bleeding effect. It can do a full revolution and slice all enemies around you, or you can shorten it do a quick slice, although it's just as powerful."

"That was amazing! I need to try it again!" Lance beamed, slicing his sword through the air rapidly, to hastily to use the skill. He felt so alive when he had used it. A clarity had fallen upon him, time had slowed and he had picked out every detail, every piece of his surroundings. The focus and alertness that had befallen him was like nothing he had ever felt before.

"Now, go out and kill some boars with all you Su Zun stuff." Beckett grinned. Ignoring the very improper pronunciation and sped off to the nearest boar.

After detecting him at Lance's predicted radius of fifteen feet, the boar charged as its first option. Once it got close, Lance leapt in the air and landed far behind the boar, which continued to run on before stopping, turning, and charging again.

"Now, it'll rock its head right as it hits the target, trying to pierce it with a tusk instead of ramming it.' Lance predicted. He smiled as he lowered himself into a ready position, slowly putting hsi sword into his sheath and gripping it with his other hand. When the boar was close, the time before him hitting Lance being the exact execution time of the skill, the monster slowed down to try and hit Lance with the tip of his tusk. Lance ripped his short sword out of the sheath with one hand, slicing it horizontally in a wide arc of bright green. It sliced the boar a new mouth six inches above its first, although this one was probably alot more painful.

The pig stopped perfectly still, glowing before exploding into a million tiny blue shards. In its place, a browser appeared. Three slots were on it: Gold, Exp and Items. Under the categories were: 20 beside a brown-colored coin, 24 and 2. Soon after the browser disappeared, and a smaller one appeared in Lance's interface. It showed the drop of two items, Broken Tusk and Tattered Pelt.

"I know this is so simple, but the whole experience of combat and fighting and experience and all this, it's awesome!" Lance brightened.

"Pelts can be used by players or NPC's with tanning abilities to make leather or other cloth, and sometimes teeth or claws contain poison, and can be used in herbalism and some other crafting skills." Beckett explained, pointing as he spoke before Lance accepted both items. "Theres an infinite number of skills in SAO, just like real life. Thief players specialize in things like hearing, hiding, lock picking, and trap placement and detection. Or there are peaceful ones, like cooking or fishing, or even marketing, where you can sell, buy, and appraise things with more efficiency."

"Jesus, slow down." Lance's expression had returned to normal, and now he was rubbing the back of his head again. "Let's at least wait until I level up to worry about spending skill points."

"Levelling up feels like Christmas morning, or so they say." Beckett beamed. "You'll have to start thinking about what kind of weapon you want to sue, that short sword won't last long."

"Oh?" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"Literally." Becket stepped close to Lance and opened up his menu for him, selecting the short sword in his inventory. He pointed to the durability of the sword, which had diminished from the fight. "Just like real life, stuff slowly wears down. Higher level stuff is better quality of course, but you can bring any armour, weapon, or tool to a blacksmith or corresponding craftsman that can refill that gauge for you. If not, it'll get destroyed forever when it hits zero."

Lance had barely heard the entire speech. He had sat down and had his short sword out, inspecting it. Beckett had unleashed a monster when he mentioned specific weapons.

"It's all about preference..." Lance muttered, moving his sword around slowly into different angles as he spoke. "Something one handed will be quicker, and it'll hamper me less. With something like this I could dodge easier and kill monsters with a faster reaction time. But speed sacrifices strength, with a hammer or mace I could hit them less and do the same amount of damage, which is efficient in its own way. But I still would need to e ready for anything, I doubt ill be able to survive on the higher levels with something that slow to move around. But what about a ranged weapon, like a bow, or a melee with larger range like a spear, or mix the two and get a javelin. There are so many variations, even to a basic sword. It could be curved, two-handed, heck I bet you can dual-wield in this game. What if-?'"

"Sadly, dual wielding isn't a feature in Sword Art Online." Beckett interrupted.

"Either way, I'll need to give it some thought." Lance muttered, nodding in agreement with the thought.

"Keep fighting," Beckett flayed out an arm, showing several boars spawning in a blue glimmer. "There isn't exactly an end to these things; you could fight them for days."

"I might just have to do that!" With a yelp of glee, Lance shot past Beckett and leapt into the air, bringing his short sword down on a boar and killing it in a single blow.

"It's getting a little dark," Beckett pondered, looking at the sun, with was dropping rapidly. "Hopefully you'll have enough gold to rent a room in the Town of Beginnings. And if you find a weapon let me know, I think I might need one soon." Beckett chuckled.

"Here!" Beckett ran his way, holding a chipped, crude blade instead of his short sword. "I found one, try it out." Lance tried to pass it to Beckett, but he just chuckled.

"You need a trade request to give or trade items to another player." Beckett explained, quickly showing Lance how to perform the action. He accepted the incoming request, and the sword went to his inventory. He clicked on it to equip it, and the sword appeared in front of his hand. Beckett grabbed at it with a grin, but just as he was about to close his fingers on it, it shot away from him and planted itself in the ground. With a frown Beckett reached for it again, but it gravitated away from his grip.

"Maybe... It can't be." Becket stood up and opened his menu, scrolling trough it rapidly before opening his abilities page.

"You don't have a sword proficiency?" Lance frowned, pointing out the mistake. "I thought all new players were supposed to start with that, and then they could level up to hammer or two-handed sword or something."

"Me too." Beckett frowned deeper and searched through all of his abilities, but found nothing. "Not even a bladed weapon proficiency..."

"But you have a blunt weapon proficiency!" Lance pointed out suddenly, smiling at his alertness.

"That pretty much narrows it down to my fists." Beckett complained. "Nearly every weapon in SAO has a sharp, metal edge. I don't know how I'll survive if I can't use swords in this death game."

"With me." Lance slapped him on the shoulder with a smile. "That's how you'll survive."


	2. Chapter 2

"Not one room?!" Beckett exclaimed, slamming his hands on the wood counter of the inn.

"Sorry sir, we are filled up. You're about the thirtieth person today to ask when they were already full." A barmaid Beckett wouldn't call unattractive explained politely.

"We should have expected this," Lance pulled him back by his shoulder. "10,000 players all need somewhere to sleep."

"Well what are we gonna do know?" Beckett turned to Lance.

000

"I hate this." Beckett pouted.

"We brought it upon ourselves." Lance tried to get comfortable on the park bench.

"Why didn't we pre-book a room?" Beckett asked no one.

"Because you ran from the town like a madman with a speed stat of 60,000, and now were sleeping on the streets." Lance answered anyway.

"And I told you I could take first watch for some reason..." Beckett muttered.

"I thought players couldn't harm one another in a safe zone?" Lance asked. He shuffled loudly one last time until he was satisfied.

"They can't." Beckett answered simply. "But sleeping out in the middle of a city just seems too venerable."

During the following silence, Lance quickly accessed his inventory and unequipped his armour. The brown leather chestplate, shoulder plates, bracers and gauntlets came off, revealing his green, long-sleeved undershirt. With that, he was alot more comfortable and settled finally. Beckett kept all of his armour on, which matched Lance's exactly other than the fact that his undershirt was bright red.

"Beckett?" Lance asked quietly after a time.

"Yeah?"

"You know that guy that tried to talk to me in the inn? The one you pulled me away from and said you would explain later?" Lance recalled.

"Yeah?"

"Well... now is later."

"Well..." Beckett sighed, checking his surrounding before turning to Lance. "That was an information broker. There isn't internet now, so information is worth its weight in gold. This game is completely new to everyone, and if you can know something before someone else, you may try and sell it for money."

"And you pulled me away, why? We could have bought some information about the level." Lance suggested. Beckett immediately chuckled at his foolish suggestion.

"Their prices are usually more than most can afford, only the desperate use information brokers. And isn't it so much more fun to learn it all on your own? It's a frontier out there; untracked, unclaimed territory. A thousand adventures could happen in a thousand places. It's... awesome."

It was Lance's turn to chuckle as Beckett got extremely off topic. "Since you know everything, what's your plan for tomorrow, Beckett?" Lance turned to him, still lying down on the bench.

"Get to the next town is what I had in mind. All the players who don't like fighting will be hanging out here; it'll be really crowded in the Town of Beginnings." Beckett explained. "Although the next town will still be packed, there'll be substantially less people there. We'll have to get an information booklet also; it's free at most shops."

"Information booklet?" To Beckett, Lance's learning curve was almost physically painful.

"Yes," Beckett sighed. "It's information about the first five levels gathered by Beta Testers, people who played the games a couple months before the normal people. Really generous of them if you ask me."

After that, silence fell once more, and only the eerie nothingness of a city at dusk could be heard.

"Goodnight, Beckett." Lance said finally.

"'Night Lance." Beckett mumbled, and the silence wasn't broken for awhile.

Lance fell into a rather comfortable sleep after that. He did not dream, simply just a recovering-type, uneventful sleep. Sadly, it seemed rather short, for Beckett awoke him soon to take his turn as watch.

"Focus on your perception skill." Beckett had instructed him. "Just scan the area every couple seconds."

Other than taking Beckett's advice, Lance was eager to pull out his sword and practice his swordsmanship. He sliced through the air with a low hum, leaving a bright streak wherever it went. He slashed in different directions, stabbed, and feinted invisible enemies. He threw the small blade to his other hand, catching it backhanded before shoving the blade forward with his elbow. The more he increased the intensity with which he fought the imaginary cadavers, the more fun he had, and the more into the training he became. Soon he was hooking his blade behind enemy shields, slashing pole arms in half, shield kicking with his boots; he even accidentally activated the skill Beckett had shown him earlier with a noise like wet rocks sliding over each other and a rapid, 360° spin. He quickly looked to the figure, afraid he had noticed and would probably poke fun at him for his childlike play, but Beckett dozed peacefully.

"It makes you feel so alive..." Lance muttered, returning his blade to its sheath. "You always get a small sense of success in normal MMO's, but this is so much better. A thousand, maybe two thousand times better. This... THIS is living."

000

"Good thing we woke up earlier than everyone else, we managed to raid the NPC shops before they got sold out." Beckett grinned, closing the inventory screen he had been browsing.

"Get ready, for the first step of a million mile journey." Lance said, looking down. They were standing on the marbles streets of the Town of Beginnings, but inches from their feet lay the dirt path.

"Just hurry up." Beckett rolled his eyes. Together, simultaneously, Lance and Beckett raised their right foot to step onto the dirt path.

"WAIT!" A yell from behind them interrupted the ceremony. Beckett turned quickly, eager to get away from the boring situation. Running towards the two men was a girl in her late teens.

"Pinch me; Kick me. Do something, I think I died and went to heaven, because that has to be an angel." Beckett smirked. In response, Lance lifted a boot and kicked him firmly in the back, sending him tumbling forward. The girl ignored the sprawling figure and went straight to Lance.

"Are you two guys going to the next village?" She asked in a musical voice, an endless number of highs and lows in her voice. Her hair was a beautiful color, midnight purple; it ran far down her back. Her eyes were of a similar color, but several hues closer to blue than purple.

"That was our plan, can we help you?" Lance answered politely. Beckett rolled on the floor in mock pain. Maybe he was trying to make Lance feel bad, maybe it actually hurt, with Beckett most people could only guess at his motives.

"My name is Ren, and I would like to go there also, but I prefer to avoid combat. Considering the dangers along the way, I'd like to accompany you two to the next town. I wouldn't be a burden, and I wouldn't ask for any monster drops. I'm just trying to stay alive." The girl spoke with a mixture of pride and diplomacy, and Lance noticed her eyes twinkled with authority whenever she spoke.

Beckett sprung up suddenly, raising an arm and exclaiming, "PARTY MEETING!" sped over to Lance and pulled him into a two-man huddle.

"Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes; say yes already!" Beckett said instantly.

"You're not even considering other options?" Lance frowned, although the tops of their heads were pressed together and they were both facing the ground, so Beckett couldn't see it.

"Why are you even _considering_ other options!?" Beckett countered without explanation.

"Think logically. She'll be deadweight-"

"You idiot, this is a girl-"

"Yeah, I kind of noticed. Her boobs and all."

"Yeah, it was kind of hard to notice those..."

"Dirty mind-"

"Correction: sexy imagination."

"If you let a girl get close to you without restraint just because you're horny then you won't last a month in SAO."

"If you turn down the requests of attractive girls, then you'll never reproduce."

"What's so special about her being a girl?"

"Out of 10,000 gamers, I'm going to say about 9,981 aren't attractive girls. Maybe our luck stat is already proving its worth!"

After pondering it for about five seconds, both boys shot up with raised arms.

"The more the merrier!" They both exclaimed with boyish grins.

"You know I could hear every word you said, right?" The girl tilted her head at them and raised an eyebrow, making both of them turn red. "Whatever," She pushed past them and onto the path. "Just don't discriminate against me. Just because I'm a girl and I don't like combat doesn't mean I couldn't kick both of your asses."

Beckett immediately shot off after the taunting female, but Lance held him back. "When dealing with women, you'll learn to let them win their battles. It makes them happy. And an unhappy woman is... well it's probably the boss on Lv. 100, because it's unbeatable." Becket stopped running and stood beside Lance. Without looking, he raised a fist of his to point towards Lance.

"Bro's before ho's?"

"Bro's before ho's." Lance agreed, punching the fist lightly. He opened up his menu to invite Ren to the party, and it was immediately accepted.

000

"Slant. Vertical. Horizontal." Beckett ordered with crossed arms as they walked. Lance quickly performed the simple sword skills, slashing diagonally, straight up and down, and also sideways.

"Uppercut, Rage Spike." Beckett continued, unwavering. With only a small grunt of complaint, Lance sliced a huge uppercut with his short sword; a strike so hard the force of the strike lifted his feet off of the ground slightly. When he landed, he sped forward with his sword held behind him, and then leapt up with an upward strike. Without a sound, Lance's boots brushed back against the ground and he stood, panting heavily. The others quickly caught up to him, and then passed him

"Sonic Leap." Beckett said climatically, and with a small grin. He looked back, as did Ren.

"One sec; got to breathe..." Lance said, starting a slow tumble-step forward that as at a pace much slower at the others.

Beckett shook his head and looked straight ahead, firmly reminding, "Did I say you could stop?"

"Well, no." Lance answered with a fluster. "But Beckett-!"

"And isn't part of our agreement that I must help you become stronger?" Beckett pressed further. Ren looked between the two with furrowed eyebrows, confused or intrigued at the heated exchange.

"Beckett! I-."

"Then..." Beckett finally looked back at Lance, and it was with a face Lance had never seen before. "I said, Sonic Leap."

Lance growled with defiance, but grudgingly raised his sword and shot into the air. His sword cackled with bright green sparks and he let the air resistance drag it behind him mid-leap. At the apex of his jump, right before he was going to plunge back to Earth, he tilted in the air and dealt a powerful downward strike to oxygen alone, the force of it slamming him back down to earth. Due to his low acrobatic skill, it seemed fitting that he landed harshly, jarring his body through the hip he landed on.

"That looked like it hurt." Beckett chuckled, eyeing the hp bar of Lance, between his and Ren's on his visual interface, which had dipped into the yellow.

"You knew I was gonna screw up, didn't you?" Lance grumbled, getting to his feet and jogging to catch up with the other two.

"Believe it or not, practicing your swordsmanship does increase your skill in the weapon you're wielding, even if it's not against any enemies." Beckett explained. "And doesn't it just feel so awesome to actually move your body as you fight? It gives you a rush that regular MMO's just can't replace."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about a lack of enemies!" Ren said sharply, shooting out an arm and stopping the two boys.

In the plains along the side of the road stood a bipedal, seven-foot-tall Hyena, with a full suit of armour, a ragged red cape billowing behind him, a long pole axe, and four regular hyena's constantly sniffing the ground their master was about to tread on.

"That's a Gnoll!" Beckett cursed. He reached for a weapon on instinct, but cursed when he remembered he didn't have one. "Watch out! He's a few levels above all of us combined!"

"Get out your weapon!" Ren ordered him; her and Lance both already had their short swords out.

"I can't, I can only use blunt weapons!" Beckett cursed again, looking around him for anything he could use. "And I thought you didn't like to fight!"

"I will if I have to defend myself." She shot at Beckett grimly.

"Thanks for yelling you guys," Lance looked back with a sarcastic look. "Now they see us and- oh look! They're running this way."

"Take this!" Ren, with an annoyed scowl, sifted through her inventory before sending Becket a quick trade request. He pressed the checkmark accept button, and into his hands materialized a seven foot long shaft made of an unknown hardwood, with metal caps on each end. "I traded it to an NPC for a basket of apples, thank god for diplomacy skills."

"What are we gonna do?" Beckett looked between his companions rapidly. "Lance still isn't at full health-"

"Bite attack." Lance said even sharper, making both Ren and Beckett look at him. He stood farther forward than anyone else, and they could only see his back. "That's the entire arsenal of the Hyena's, or so it can be assumed. Keep out of reach of their jaws and there is a huge portion of their body they can't defend. Hyena's have one of the largest crushing forces of the Animal Kingdom though, so we shouldn't underestimate their teeth."

"What's he doing?" Ren whispered to Beckett, Lance didn't even notice as he continued his ramble.

"I dunno, he does it sometimes." Beckett thought for a second. "I think his Chinese uncle taught it to him, Sun something. I forget; I wasn't listening when he told me."

"The Gnoll has a long weapon, and its height gives it long arms. Probably to keep off enemies with his long range while his pets take down his enemies. There's no getting to him without dealing with those hyenas." Lance turned around to Beckett, calling his name sharply. "I'm gonna use a sword skill to stun the hyena's, keep them off me while I deal with the Gnoll."

"Dude, that thing is like level five; it's pretty powerful." Beckett frowned, showing how big of noobs they were in a simple sentence."

Slowly, Lance backed away from the two and towards the approaching Gnoll. At the same time, a giddy-filled grin spread on Lance's face. "It doesn't matter how strong it is if it can't hit me."

At that, Lance turned around and bolted full out towards the grey mammals. As he predicted, the Gnoll lowered its pole axe in defense and sent his four guards after Lance. His sword brightened as he reached the charging Hyena's, he gripped it tightly with both hands and hesitating before he struck, taking a single breath.

Lance planted his foot and his sword shot out in front of him in an arc, slicing a thick red line into the four hyenas. They fell backwards several feet, landing on their sides.

"Beckett, now!" Lance, facing the Gnoll, bent his knees and held back his sword for another strike.

"Got 'em!" Beckett rushed forward holding his new staff with both hands. As the hyenas attempted to get up, Beckett clubbed them with the metal caps of the staff, ensuring they would never rise again.

"Rage Spike!" Lance pointed his sword forward, and then flashed through the air like a bullet out of a gun. He slid right past the protruding spike of the Gnoll's clumsy pole arm. The right edge of his short sword pushed through the Gnoll's neck. When it finally exited, a red line cut across nearly half of the creatures neck. The green bar hovering above the humanoid's neck dipped down, barely making it into the yellow to match Lance's own.

With speed Beckett had not anticipated, the Gnoll swung his axe sharply around him. His close proximity helped he deadly metal miss Lance, but it didn't save him from the wooden shaft cracking him across the cheek and knocking him sideways.

"Lance!" Beckett cried, racing forward instantly towards the Gnoll. Then he stopped sharply, for the Hyena-like creature had noticed him and fixed his eyes upon him.

Beckett's fingers trembled so furiously, his quarterstaff nearly slipped through his grasp. Any traces of bravery were long gone and he took slow steps backwards, every step away was quickly followed by the Gnoll's own advancement.

The halberd was lowering slowly, its sharp point aimed for Beckett's forehead. There it was, ore refined and forged into a weapon slapped on top of a stick of dead tree, and it was more than capable of ending the game, and his life. Why had he run in so eagerly, even though knew his low HP made him extremely vulnerable to any attacks?

The sharp metal end of the pole axe was shoved towards Beckett's face abruptly, making him jump. Out of nothing more than pure instinct, he raised his quarterstaff to defend himself. Beckett wouldn't have thought his luck stat was that high, but he began to second guess his character attributes when the tip struck perfectly in the middle of his wooden shaft and stuck there.

A sword burst forth from the creature's neck with a shower of blue, crystal-like shapes and the sound of breaking glass. The steel managed to severe the rest of the creature's neck, causing it to slide of slowly, similar to butter slowly sliding down a heated slant. It hadn't been decapitated from its original body for a second before the entire creature exploded in the same blue shapes. As the air cleared, it revealed Ren, who had been behind the Gnoll, sword still poised from her strike.

"I had a snarky line to say at this point..." Ren panted, lowly lowering her sword to her side. "But now I forget it."

Lance, who had easily recovered from the Stun effect, reached out a hand and helped Beckett up. The trio then dusted themselves off and sheathed their weapons; it took Beckett a moment to notice the blinking item drop browser.

"We got a magic item!" Beckett grinned, pointing to the title of the browser, **Magic Item Drop**, in awe.

"NO WAY!" Both Ren and Lance spoke and acted simultaneously, pushing past Beckett.

"I wonder what's its power is!"

"Our magic drop must be like 1%! We're so lucky!"

'Maybe I should get it, since I saved your butt."

"What's it called!?"

Beckett opened the browser and equipped it quickly, placing his hands Superman style for effect, without considering the name, which he proudly announced was: "Chastity Belt of the Monk!"

"Beckett! Ew!" Lance shied away from the sight and made a gagging noise.

"On second thgouht, she's all yours." Ren winked at Beckett, turning towards their original direction and starting down the road.

Beckett's cheeks flushed red as he looked at his new item, but he lightened suddenly and shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, at least you don't have to guess its function."


End file.
